Flash Flood — Cibola, New Mexico

2015-07-29 · near Milan, Cibola, New Mexico

Event narrative

Heavy rains caused several streets to flood with between 2 to 4 feet of water in downtown Grants. The street flooding included First and Second streets from Washington to Roosevelt as well as Fifth and Santa Fe streets. It caused one vehicle to stall due to the water height. No business or homes were reported flooded as well as no reported injuries.

Wider weather episode

An upper level high east of the state and a surface backdoor cold front drew abundant moisture into northern and central New Mexico through the end of the 28th. The wet environment remained in place on the 29th, leading to widespread showers and thunderstorms during the afternoon and evening hours. Thunderstorms lasted into the morning hours of the 30th, mainly focused over the east central plains. Rainfall amounts were impressive, with numerous reports in excess of an inch. One of the hardest hit locales was Grants, which received between 1.5 and 2.25 inches of rain in little over an hour. A few streets were flooded, one car was stuck in the flash flood waters, and boats became necessary to travel across other areas. Galisteo Creek below Galisteo also hit flood stage between 510am and 650am on the 30th. Many locales experienced minor flooding impacts, including Santa Rosa where reports of 3 to 4 inches of rain caused El Rito Creek to flow over Power Dam. Sumner Lake received an impressive 4 to 5 inches of rain during the overnight period. This resulted in an astounding rise of nearly 2.5 feet on Sumner Lake. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation performed reservoir releases up to 300cfs for several days after the event to control water levels.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (35.1769, -107.8789)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 583078. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.